Barrel slugs at .322,boolets drop at .326

[lyktohunt]

I just got a new mold for my 32-40 and as mentioned before I have been trying to get this old gun to shoot,so I cast a few today with what is actually a 8MM Lee mold that I was hoping would drop boolets at .324 but they are dropping at .326. My question is first is .326 too big to shoot out of my gun that slugs at .322 or am I going to have to size them down to say .324.(I do not have the sizer yet)
The other question is I am using the Lee mold C324-175-R, do you think these are too pointed to use in a tubular magazine,my velocities will be around 1200 fps

[Wayne Smith]

You can shoot them as cast with no problem. Ackley was shooting 8mm condum bullets out of -06 barrels with no significant increase in pressure - you have nothing to worry about.

Accuracy may suffer if they are swaged down too much in the barrel, leaving lead tails at the grooves.

[excess650]

I don't think that round nose boolit too pointy for a tube magazine, and a 32-40 is going to be particularly light on recoil.

As for sizing, I think .324" is probably realistic. What is the inside diameter of your fired cases? Hopefully its a couple of thousandths larger than your groove diameter.

Sizing .002" in a single pass should be fine.

1200fps is pretty modest velocity. Is it an old, weak, blackpowder action?

[x101airborne]

As long as they chamber, you can shoot em. Usually, the bigger the better with a few exceptions.

[lyktohunt]

I don't think that round nose boolit too pointy for a tube magazine, and a 32-40 is going to be particularly light on recoil.

As for sizing, I think .324" is probably realistic. What is the inside diameter of your fired cases? Hopefully its a couple of thousandths larger than your groove diameter.

Sizing .002" in a single pass should be fine.

1200fps is pretty modest velocity. Is it an old, weak, blackpowder action?
Thanks for the responses and yes I assume it is a black powder action, the manufacture date is 1896.
I loaded a dummy round to see if they would chamber and they do. I could see a slight bulge in the case when I seated the bullet,but I dont think that will be an issue.
I will try some weak loads with Unique and IMR 4227 and if they tumble this time well I guess it is time to hang it on the wall.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I'm shooting that same boolit in my pre 64 Mod 94 32-Special. I size it down to .322 with no problem. The only problem I've had is that I have to size the nose down to .311 to get it to chamber. It's a pretty good shooter also.

[Wayne Smith]

Hey, show that old lady some respect! Get some Holy Black and load her like she was supposed to be loaded.

[lyktohunt]

Hey, show that old lady some respect! Get some Holy Black and load her like she was supposed to be loaded.

I have thought of going down that road but a few things come to mind and the first is I am way to lazy to do all that cleaning however I do like the boom and smoke.
I am trying to get this gun to shoot in cowboy side matches where sometimes there is alot of shots before i could clean in between events and I assume I would encounter some serious fowling issues.

[Bob Krack]

My question is first is .326 too big to shoot out of my gun that slugs at .322 or am I going to have to size them down to say .324.(I do not have the sizer yet)
The other question is I am using the Lee mold C324-175-R, do you think these are too pointed to use in a tubular magazine,my velocities will be around 1200 fpsI would have no extraordinary concern about that diameter.... I do not think I would be too concerned about the tubular magazine issue. I personally would use a military primer (harder - to resist slam fire in floating firing pin rifles).

Hopefully, others might shed more light on THAT issue.

Bob

[lyktohunt]

I just got a new mold for my 32-40 and as mentioned before I have been trying to get this old gun to shoot,so I cast a few today with what is actually a 8MM Lee mold that I was hoping would drop boolets at .324 but they are dropping at .326. My question is first is .326 too big to shoot out of my gun that slugs at .322 or am I going to have to size them down to say .324.(I do not have the sizer yet)
The other question is I am using the Lee mold C324-175-R, do you think these are too pointed to use in a tubular magazine,my velocities will be around 1200 fps

Well so far my plans have failed , I tried loading some of these .326 boolets in my 32-40 brass and did notice some bulging where the bullet is seated but i thought it should not be a problem, wrong, they will not chamber in my rifle.
I must admit I am getting a little frustrated with it so far but have not given up yet,I am thinking plan whatever letter it is now will be to get the .323 Lee sizer and run these oversize boolets through. Do you folks think going down to ..323 is going to be small enough to chamber and maybe will the Lee taper die help in reducing bulging problems.
One interesting thing was some of the 3030 brass that I formed into 32-40 actually chambered but not many

[Buckshot]

http://www.fototime.com/A8D46B856BF255E/standard.jpg

............I have a falling block scheutzen rifle in 32-40. It's groove also slugs @ .322" as I believe you said your rifle does. When I first aquired the rifle I had no moulds for the 32 cal slugs, but did have some 8mm boolits all lube-sized and ready at .325". I had a Lee .323" size die so the slugs were sent up through that to reduce them down.

The cases are old Winchester cases intended for leveractions, due to the cannelures rolled into the cases to aid in keeping bullets from being pushed in deeper. The 2 cast boolits were both too heavy to stabilize in the rifle's 16" twist. The one on the left is the NLA Lyman 323471 @ 220grs. The one on the right is from a Lee group buy I ran 5-6 years ago. It drops a 240gr boolit (depending on alloy) at .326".

All reloading die makers Know that you 'll be using jacketed bullets so they make their dies to grip a jacketed bullet. This is almost ALWAYS too much of a good thing for cast. When I ordered dies I ordered the RCBS 'Cowboy' set for the 32-40 as they're supposed to be setup for cast lead. Well, yes and no. Maybe yes when used for a levergun, but not for a single shot as they still size down too far at .319". Nor did the casemouth expander do it's job.

http://www.fototime.com/A91441B81477045/standard.jpg

On the left is an RCBS die body and the casemouth expander for the 45-70. On the right is the casemouth expander for the 32-40 I modified to accept the much better Lyman 'M' type casemouth expanders. The one in the altered stem is one I made for my 32-40. You're going to be wanting a bit more case tension on your boolits due to their being in a tube magazine, so what I ended up doing fit what I needed.

http://www.fototime.com/57FDCC442C1911E/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/270BFCD63A02CF7/standard.jpg

I made an insert type neck only sizer. I used a Lee sizer die blank for the body. The insert I made only sizes a bit more then enough to keep the boolit from falling out of the case if inverted. The 'M' expander simply expands the casemouth enough to set the base band of the slug into.

What you'll need to do (Short of a chamber casting) is check the casemouths of some fired cases from your rifle. You may get .323" and if so, I'd size the boolits to that. For lighter type loads Saeco makes a nice tapered FNPB of 165grs that drops from my mould at .323" on the base band.

...............Buckshot

[Bret4207]

If I read your other posts correctly you are loading for a 32-40 in a 94 Winchester. If so, they weren't ever made "for black powder". They were smokeless actions from the get go. The barrels were offered after a time with nickel steel "smokeless" labeling, but a 32-40 should have the same action and barrel steel as a 30-30 of the time. Maybe some of the 94 experts can chime in, but I think I'm correct on that.